Terpsichore (1612)

Terpsichore is a compendium of more than 300 instrumental dances published in 1612 by the German composer Michael Praetorius. The collection takes its name from the muse of dance.

In his introduction Praetorius takes credit for arranging the music rather than composing the tunes. The collection is based on French dance repertoire of the time, although some of the tunes have been identified as coming from elsewhere in Europe, for example England and Spain.[1]

An illustration of several musical instruments from Syntagma Musicum

The publication was rediscovered in the twentieth century by the early music movement. Recordings include a selection performed by the Early Music Consort (which was released in 1973),[2] and others from the New London Consort etc.[3]

Instrumentation

Terpsichore contains some notes which relate to instrumentation, but does not specify which instruments should play particular parts. A variety of instruments have been used to play Terpsichore.

Sometimes performers draw on another work by Praetorius, Syntagma Musicum, which is an important source of information regarding historical instruments. The Early Music Consort used this approach. However, Syntagma Musicum is not necessarily a guide to the instrumentation of Terpsichore. The musicologist Peter Holman suggests that the dances were conceived primarily for violin consorts, although "Praetorius was clearly aware that potential purchasers in Germany might want to play them on wind instruments".[1]

Film use

Music
  • The Fifth Estate (band) had a hit record in 1967 with their rock version of "Ding-Dong! The Witch Is Dead", in which they interpolated "La Bourrée" from the Terpsichore suite, played on a sopranino recorder in G, as described by Michael Praetorius in the Syntagma.[6]
  • On Cleveland's classical station WCLV 95.5-FM in the 1970s, Albert Petrak used "La Bourrée" as the theme music for his 6:15 am "First Program." Petrak curated a collection of 32 versions of the "Bourrée" for his show.[7]

References
  1. Peter Holman: Terpsichore at 400: Michael Praetorius as a Collector of Dances. The Viola da Gamba Society Journal, Volume Six, 2012. S. 34-51. Online Archived 2016-04-06 at the Wayback Machine
  2. "Praetorius - Dances and Motets. Early Music Consort" (1973)
  3. "Terpsichore musarum", Ricercar Consort, Ensemble La Fenice, La bande des luths.
  4. Lanza, Joseph (2007). Phallic Frenzy: Ken Russell and His Films. Chicago: Chicago Review Press. pp. 106–107. ISBN 9781569764824.
  5. "The Devils: Extended Note by Guy Protheroe". maxopus.com. Retrieved 21 March 2016.
  6. Jancik, Wayne (2010). The Billboard Book of One-hit Wonders (2nd rev. ed.). Oakland: University of California Press. p. 221. ISBN 9780823076222.
  7. Conrad, Robert (January 10, 2014). "Albert Petrak - 1926 - 2014". Cleveland, Ohio: ideastream. Retrieved March 21, 2017.
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